Denature - Undying Nature
by Surrika
Summary: After the events at Waterfall, Undyne has to cope with what she has done. To get full enjoyment out of this short story, please read Chapter 4 of Denature, thank you.


Denature : Undying Nature

What was this feeling, crawling through every fibre of her being. Undyne walked away from the scene trying to make sense of this foreign emotion she was experiencing. The rushing waters of Waterfall was the only noise keeping her company through her journey. She questioned what brought on this sombre mood. She had killed plenty in the past, but when she killed Goner something had broken the final straw hoisted upon her back. Mulling over her thoughts, she realised that there was only one monster that she could turn to that could probably make sense out of how she was feeling; Papyrus.

Her journey through Waterfall ended as she made her way into Snowdin. Undyne wasn't a fan of the weather here, as her moisture and the cold temperature didn't mix very well, but at least it wasn't like Hotlands where it could potentially kill her. The snow crunching beneath her every step as she walked into view of it; the house with the two skeletons living inside. Familiar with human anatomy as she was, she found it strange that they resembled the framework of humans, but didn't question it too much.

Stepping up to the door, she slowly raised her hand. Before she had a chance to connect her knuckles to the door, however, it swung open to reveal the smaller big brother of the two. Undyne never felt comfortable around Sans. Something about the way he carried himself just never sat right with her, so nonchalant about any events that transpired before him. The way he looked at people as if he was constantly judging them with that unbreaking smile. Silence held between the two before Sans called back into the house "Yo bro, it's for you." He walked past her and headed towards Waterfall for a few steps, before rounding the corner of his shed.

Undyne raised her eyebrow, curious about what the shorts skeleton was up to for a moment. Her curious wondering was short lived, however, as the taller little brother skeleton appeared. "Oh, hello Undyne." He said, looking her over "Can I help you with anything?" There was an obvious tone of confusion in his voice.

"Uh, yes… may I come in?" Undyne asked hesitantly, her eyes not meeting with Papyrus' . He wordlessly took a step to the side and held the door open for her, welcoming her into his home. As she walked past the skeleton, Undyne realised that not once had she ever been inside of this house. It was certainly bigger and a lot more homely than her own home. Although there were some oddities here and there, like a rock covered with sprinkles and a sock that had been seemingly bombarded with sticky notes, it was quite quaint.

Her observation time was cut short however as Papyrus yet again spoke up. "So I assume you are here for a reason, Undyne?"

Undyne slowly turned to face Papyrus before speaking. "Yes, Papyrus… I am not sure what I am feeling right now. I've killed many times in the past before, but… today, an innocent threw themselves in front of my attacks. What was weird is that it felt like it had happened before… several times… in a short period of time." She explained.

"An innocent? So the human soul is still with the queen...?" Papyrus figured that part out on his own, he knew Undyne would never view a human as innocent.

"Yes, thanks to your… friend." She added knowing that this may cause friction between the two, but she felt it right to tell him.

The skeleton was at loss for words as he looked at Undyne with judging eyes felt familiar, like they were the very same eyes that his brother would look at everyone with. "I see…" It was apparent Papyrus knew exactly who she meant. "Well this seems like a sit down topic… would you like some tea?" he asked.

Undyne was confused; she had just confessed to killing his friend and he was now offering her a beverage? She gave a reluctant nod, and replied "Yes please… and for what it's worth… I'm sorry."

"Goner always talked about having some kind of greater purpose, one we all have… " Papyrus began to speak from the kitchen as he made a pot of tea. Undyne approached the door-frame and leaned against it as she listened to Papyrus speak. "I just never thought his would be this…" As the water was set on the stove to boil, he turned to face her. "The feelings you are experiencing right now, Undyne? Remorse, guilt, especially doubt; You killed someone who wasn't a human or an intended target, and what is conflicting you even further is that they died to save who you believe is the greatest threat to monsterkind."

Undyne started to retort, to counter what the skeleton was saying until she realized that he was right, and how wayward she had become. She would have killed a monster anyway, the queen no less, just to get to another human soul. She mused for a moment. "When did I become this Papyrus… I'm supposed to be a Royal Guard, the captain no less, a monster other monsters look up to and aspire to be..."

"Well Undyne, I used to aspire to be like you also. You looked so heroic and brave on the exterior, the proper defender of Monsterkind, but when you killed Goners human friend… I realized you weren't guarding anything, you were on the offensive and killed an innocent human." He said as he poured the tea into two seperate mugs. He picked them up and walked past Undyne leading them to a small table with two chairs and one bean bag chair that was presumably for Goner.

"Innocent? Papyrus, the humans are the reason we are stuck down here." Undyne replied, trying to rationalise her actions.

"Undyne, how long have we Monsters been trapped down here and how long is the lifespan of a average human?." Papyrus countered "I doubt that child even knew we were here to begin with, and discovering us was entirely up to chance. Any of the humans who have fallen here being part of the group that made the barrier would be an incredible coincidence, especially this long after the fact." He took a seat setting the mugs down and then motioned Undyne to also sit. "Did you even talk to Goner's friend? Ask them what they were even doing in Waterfall? I did try to tell you they were a good person but you wouldn't listen to me, and according to Goner you didn't even give the child a chance to explain themselves. You killed them, and now view that scenario from the outside; because Goner saw that, you killing the only friend their own age they had ever made? Of course he would side against you" he said before taking a sip from his mug.

Undyne thought about what Papyrus had said as she took the opposite seat. No matter which way she tried to spin it, from an outside perspective she certainly looked like the bad guy. She hadn't even considered letting the humans explain themselves. She didn't even let Toriel explain, but that thought spawned a question; "Toriel killed a human, why aren't you mad at her?"

"Because unlike you, she didn't mean to kill them," Papyrus replied "The human isn't exactly dead either, it seems they still live within her. I've even seen her converse with them. Human souls are such fascinating things…" he mused, before continuing with the previous subject "When Toriel explained herself I could tell she felt remorse and regret for her actions, actions she didn't mean to do. The child forgave her and so did I. Besides, she loved my puzzles! You can't be all bad if you love puzzles!" He said in a chipper tone.

Undyne found Papyrus's attitude a little uplifting, he had just heard that she had killed his number one assistant but was still willing to sit down and chat with her. One thing about the scenario was bothering her though, as she had mentioned already before. "I know it must be an uncomfortable subject Papyrus but I must ask, have you been having any odd… feelings recently, like Deja-vu?" she asked.

Papyrus thought about it for a moment and nodded "Now that you mention it, a little bit… You see Queen Toriel had passed through here and solved some of my puzzles… So I had to reset some of patented Papy poppers! To celebrate any more solvings of my puzzles. I was at the invisible maze of refraction where I could of sworn I reset the popper several times already… I just thought it might have been the worry of sending Goner to keep an eye on you," he said before the room went silent.

"I'm sorry about Goner, Papyrus… I didn't mean for him to get hurt…" Undyne started to apologise, but Papyrus raised his gloved hand up.

"Save it for now Undyne, but I have a question for you...what is your title?"

"Captain of the Royal Guard," she replied.

"What is your sworn duty as a Royal Guard?" he asked.

"To protect the Dreemurr family dustline." Undyne sat up a bit not sure where this speil was even going.

"And yet here you are… sitting at a table sipping tea whilst our queen, harboring a innocent human soul, is walking through the hotlands unguarded, where anything could happen to her." Papyrus finished talking.

Undyne's eyes widened as she realised what she was doing. This was no time to sit around feeling sorry for herself! Monsterkind might not have control over the soul, but it was still there with her currently undefended queen.

Papyrus motioned to the door, seeing that Undyne had put it all together. Undyne's old grin had come back across her face "Thanks Papyrus… I needed this talk!" she said as she darted out of the front door, almost slamming it. It opened again immediately afterwards as Undyne popped her head back in. "Oh, and thank you for the tea!" she said happily, before closing the door again and running back towards Waterfall, screaming "NGAHHH! FEAR NOT MY QUEEN, I AM COMING TO FULFILL MY DUTY!"

Papyrus sighed and looked at the bean bag chair, before slumping down into it and drinking his tea. "I'm going to miss you, friend…"


End file.
